


of fairytales and ninjas

by happylikeafool



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Also the only shrubbery you'll find here is a Christmas tree, F/F, Like a lot a lot of fluff, american ninja warrior au, but mostly just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 21:16:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12849687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happylikeafool/pseuds/happylikeafool
Summary: "Emma, winning American Ninja Warrior isn't your fairytale,” Regina says and it’s soft but still somehow firm, leaving no room for debate. She squeezes Emma's hand. “Your fairytale is Henry. It’s me and you, together. It's this family. We're the fairytale. And no matter what happens tomorrow that will still be true.”There’s no denying that American Ninja Warrior is the Swan-Mills family’s thing, not when it is invariably tied to so many of their most important moments.





	of fairytales and ninjas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lesbrarian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbrarian/gifts).



> This is for Maddi, who inspired it by asking about the existence of Swan Queen American Ninja Warrior fics, who supported it with so much enthusiasm even when it veered off in a completely unplanned direction and became less Ninja Warrior AU and more just a whole lot of developing relationship fluff, and who is genuinely just the kindest.

It doesn’t start with American Ninja Warrior, it starts with _Mills Monday Movie Night_ , a weekly event they dream up when Henry is twelve and Emma and Regina are trying really hard to nail down the co-parenting thing. Emma pushes for it to be dubbed _Swan-Mills Monday Movie Night_ but she gets overruled by not one but two nerds who insist that the alliteration is just too good to pass up on. They refuse to change their minds no matter how much Emma sulks - which is _a lot_ , at least until Regina produces the best popcorn Emma has ever eaten, drizzled in chocolate, in what is clearly some kind of bribe and all of Emma's resolve evaporates. She does make another push for a title change years later when all of their last names actually _are_ Swan-Mills but she gets overruled again - that time she gets bribed into conceding with something even better than chocolate drizzled popcorn.

 

 _Mills Monday Movie Night_ is exactly what it sounds like - all three of them curled up in the living room on Monday nights with the chocolate drizzled popcorn and whatever candy Emma has managed to smuggle into the house that week and a movie that they take turns picking. It's wonderful. A real family kind of thing. The kind of weekly tradition Emma dreamed of when she was a kid.

 

 _Mills Monday Movie Night_ also includes wine after Henry is in bed and Emma and Regina talking and talking well past the hour people who have to work in the morning should be asleep. And that's wonderful too.

 

It's about six months into their movie night tradition - well after wine and talking has become wine and talking _and_ kissing - when a Monday night comes where Henry does not want to watch a movie. He tells them this after dinner and Emma watches Regina's face fall, catches devastation that is quickly masked behind an expression schooled perfectly into practiced indifference.

 

Emma is already reaching over, settling a comforting hand on Regina’s back, already trying to work out how to soothe the ache of this rejection because she knows that that’s exactly how Regina will see it, when Henry clarifies that he wants to watch a show that Nick and Ava won't stop talking about instead. It isn't a rejection after all and Emma watches as the mask lifts instantly from Regina’s face, replaced with a genuine smile filled with relief tugging at the corners of her mouth.

 

Emma smiles too. “What show, kid?”

 

“It's called American Ninja Warrior.”

 

Emma is pretty sure her face pales at those words because suddenly Regina is eyeing her curiously, quirking a concerned eyebrow at her. But American Ninja Warrior makes Emma uncomfortable for a reason she isn't eager to explain, so she shakes her head, rejecting the quiet concern she sees in the warm brown eyes staring at her.

 

She plops down onto the couch, fishing for the remote, and then flipping channels, not looking back up to meet Regina's eyes until she finds the right one. “Let's watch this thing,” she says, in a voice that she hopes passes for normal. “Oh and I brought Reese's Pieces,” she adds, digging the bag out of her pocket and dropping it onto the coffee table beside the carefully laid out bowl of popcorn.

 

Regina says nothing for a minute, her eyes boring into Emma like she's trying to decide if she should push or not. “What did I say about bringing candy?” she finally tsks, apparently deciding against pushing. It's a soft kind of chastisement though, it's got no bite at all.

 

Emma lets out the breath she hadn't really realized she was holding. “Sorry,” she shrugs, grinning as she reaches forward and grabs a fistful of popcorn, shoving it in her mouth and answering with a full mouth, “Must’a forgot.”

 

Regina rolls her eyes - whether at Emma talking with her mouth full or at her terrible excuse is unclear - and sits herself down, her shoulder brushing gently against Emma's. Maybe the contact is meant for comfort, maybe it's just because the couch is small when all three of them are piled on it like this, either way, Emma feels herself relax.

 

They’ve barely made it to the first commercial break before Henry is declaring that he loves the show and Regina is smiling, happy that he’s happy, and Emma knows then that it doesn't matter that American Ninja Warrior makes her feel uneasy. She will watch literally anything as long as it means that she gets to keep _this_ \- this tradition and this feeling that fills her chest when she is smooshed between these two people on this couch.

 

Regina asks her about it once Henry is gone to bed, apparently not so much having let it go earlier as having deferred it, but Emma can’t figure out how to explain this. It’s complicated. Embarrassing, really, more than anything, which is a good enough reason not to tell Regina. But it's more than that too. It's an aching loneliness in the hollow of her chest that she once thought might swallow her whole. She can't just unpack that hurt right now, not ever probably. So she doesn't answer, she just leans over and kisses Regina, and kisses her again, and again, until the memory of that aching loneliness is no longer threatening to consume her.

 

When they finally stop kissing, Regina rests her forehead against Emma's, whispers softly, “We don’t have to watch that show again if there’s something about it that bothers you. I don’t need to know why.”

 

Emma is impossibly transfixed by the brown eyes staring at her - they are so near her own that she can see every fleck of gold in them. She wants to look away but she can't seem to bring herself to. She just stares and stares and stares and then finally says, “Henry likes it,” as if that's an answer.

 

“Henry would also like it if we let him have ice cream for breakfast, that doesn't mean he needs, or will get, ice cream for breakfast.” Regina’s eyebrows quirk upwards, point made.

 

Emma can't help but smile at that but then she sighs, pulling back. She immediately regrets the loss of contact but she can definitely think a lot straighter when Regina’s eyes aren't so close, so she straightens completely, runs a hand through her hair, and answers, “It's fine, really.”

 

Regina looks skeptical but there's only a beat before she nods. She reaches over and takes one of Emma’s hands, laces their fingers together and squeezes. “If you change your mind, please let me know.”

 

It’s not exactly acceptance that Emma is fine but its acquisition that she won't push and Emma could kiss Regina (again). Instead, she nods back and let's silence descend over them. She stares at their joined hands a long moment before she says, “What are we doing?”

 

“You're pretending that that television show doesn't actually bother you for a reason I couldn't even begin to guess and I'm reluctantly going along with your choice to continue watching it because I am being supportive,” Regina surmises, the hint of a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

 

“It doesn't bother-” Emma starts but stops herself. She doesn't want to talk about American Ninja Warrior anymore because if they don't stop she's likely to tell Regina everything and she doesn't really want that. “That's not what I meant,” she says instead, which is true.

 

Regina quirks a curious eyebrow at her and waits for her to elaborate.

 

“This thing we do every Monday night. Not the TV part. Or the amazing popcorn. This other stuff. You know?” She motions down to their still joined hands, and can't stop the rambling mess that tumbles out of her mouth next. “Like, the kid goes to bed and then there’s all of this kissing. Like seriously fireworks worthy kissing. But then I go home and we just...we pretend that the kissing didn't happen. At least until it's Monday again. And I just...I don't know...”

 

Regina frowns. “Are you saying you don't want to kiss anymore?”

 

“No,” Emma says a little too quickly and a little too loudly because that is the exact opposite of what she wants. She shakes her head vehemently for good measure and then she sighs, her shoulders sagging a bit, regretting bringing this up at all. She considers just dropping it but something, maybe the memory of the loneliness, pushes her forward. “I'm just saying that I don't understand why we only kiss on Mondays. I bet kissing on Tuesdays or Fridays or Saturdays or any other day would be just as good.”

 

Regina is still frowning, although there is something less distressed about her expression now. “Is this your way of saying that you would like us to date?”

 

Emma swallows and when she answers it's nearly a whisper, “Would you be upset if I said yes?”

 

Regina laughs her eyes suddenly filled with fondness and desire in equal measures. “No.” Regina swallows thickly, the desire starting to overtake the fondness in her eyes. “I would not be upset. Quite the opposite, I assure you.”

 

Emma grins, her heart soaring. “Good,” she says.

 

“Good,” Regina echoes and then leans over and kisses Emma.

 

And that's that.

 

xxxxxx

 

They go on a real proper first date on Friday night. Emma brings it up hesitantly with Henry, worried about his reaction, but he just rolls his eyes and says, “About time.”

 

It turns out Emma is right - kissing on Fridays is just as good as kissing on Mondays. Actually, it's kind of better.

 

When Monday rolls back around, they watch American Ninja Warrior again. Emma feels Regina's watchful eyes on her for the duration of the program but she really is fine. The previous week’s unease doesn’t manage to really settle in her chest, not when Regina is holding her hand. And by the time not one, not two, but three women have managed to scale the warped wall, she thinks she might actually be able to like this show with time.

 

So two Mondays turns into three, turns into four, turns into more, until _Mills Monday Movie Night_ really should be renamed _Mills American Ninja Warrior Night_ \- but the alliteration nerds don't take well to that suggestion, so Emma doesn't bring it up again.

 

Emma is right, any lingering unease that comes with American Ninja Warrior does manage to fade eventually, until she actually starts to look forward to it. Although what she likes best about American Ninja Warrior isn’t the show itself - it’s Regina trying to pretend she isn't all that interested in the program.

 

In their weeks of American Ninja Warrior watching, Regina takes to complaining often and vehemently that if she has to suffer through one more awful pun made by the announcers she's going to incinerate the television. The only thing that she likes to complain about more is the amount of air time used up on what she likes to refer to as ‘sob stories’. Emma and Henry just indulge her ranting and then share knowing, amused, looks when Regina not-as-discreetly-as-she-thinks wipes her eyes at at least one of those sob stories a night.

 

Regina, despite her continued insistence that she doesn't especially like American Ninja Warrior, is the one who complains the loudest when some new bad guy plucked out of a Disney movie Emma’s never even seen arrives in town and they miss one of the City Finals.

 

“You know,” Emma tells her after said bad guy has been dispatched and they’re sitting on the back deck just the two of them looking up at the stars. Or, well, Regina is looking at the sky, Emma is looking at Regina, trying unsuccessfully to suppress an amused smile. “If you’re worried about missing your favourite show again, they do have devices that record shows automatically.”

 

Regina looks away from the sky and over at Emma. She looks like she wants to be annoyed by the teasing but she can't seem to stop the smile from tugging at the corners of her mouth, even as she grumbles, “It's not my favourite show.”

 

“So you've said before,” Emma shrugs, unbothered - it's hard to be bothered when Regina is looking at her that way, caught between amusement and annoyance and only managing to look fond. “I can order one,” she says, “Have it delivered before next Monday.”

 

“Henry would probably appreciate that,” Regina says after a beat of silence, her tone as disinterested as she can manage to make it, the smile she's clearly trying to suppress still tugging the corners of her mouth upwards despite her efforts.

 

“Alright,” Emma grins.

 

“Alright,” Regina echoes and she's not trying to fight the smile anymore.

 

Emma's breath catches then, like her lungs have forgotten how to function, caught completely off guard by a soft smile and even softer eyes. “I love you,” the words just slip out, completely unintentionally, like they have a mind of their own and simply refuse to be contained.

 

Regina's eyes are suddenly wide, surprised.

 

Emma’s eyes widen too, just as surprised, if not more. It's not like her to say I love you -  certainly not when it’s first, unprompted. “I-” she starts but then she stops because she's not sure if she wants to take it back or repeat it. She's frozen in uncertainty.

 

Regina overcomes the surprise of it first, that fond smile back and lighting up her whole face as she leans forward and presses the gentlest of kisses to the corner of Emma's mouth, and then her cheek, and then the corner of her eye.

 

Emma's breath has completely caught in her throat again as the flurry of kisses descends back to the corner of her mouth and then Regina's lips are hovering over her own, close enough that she can feel the warm puff of air that leaves Regina's mouth when she whispers, “I love _you_.”

 

And then they are kissing, Emma's eyes sliding closed, and her heart swelling and swelling and swelling.

 

She's not sure she's ever been so happy.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma convinces Regina to let her build Henry a salmon ladder in the backyard of the manor for his thirteenth birthday. It takes a lot of persuading. Regina's number one concern is Henry's safety - Emma promises to buy a thick mat to place under the salmon ladder, so that if Henry falls, the landing will be soft. Her number two concern is Emma sawing her hand off trying to get the thing built - Emma whines about the lack of faith in her abilities (she let's Regina say I told you so with only minimal complaint when she manages to accidentally hammer one of her thumbs hard enough that she thinks for a second that she's broken it). Regina's third concern is that it will be an eyesore in her otherwise pristine backyard - Emma promises that she'll like it and that, if she doesn't, they can tear it down.

 

Emma's only concern is that, by virtue of having to build it in the backyard, it won't be a surprise - Regina solves that by casting a cloaking spell around it, so that no one but the two of them will be able to see it until the spell is lifted on Henry's birthday.

 

Building a salmon ladder, it turns out, is not nearly as easy as Emma assumed it would be and she ends up having to take the day before Henry's birthday off from work so that the project will be completed on time. It’s mid afternoon, and she's just putting in the last screw when Regina comes out into the backyard.

 

“Is it five already?” Emma’s brow crinkles as she drops the screwdriver into her tool box and brushes her hands against the material of her shorts, wiping away invisible sawdust.

 

“No,” Regina shakes her head coming closer. “It's only two, I came home early to see if you needed help.”

 

Emma grins. “Actually, I just finished.” She holds her hands out, palm up, and shakes them a bit - not quite jazz hands but close enough that she's risking mocking. “Tada.”

 

Regina laughs, shaking her head, but there is no mocking, just a warm smile, her eyes lingering on Emma for a long moment before they slide over to the completed salmon ladder, appraising it seriously.

 

Emma rocks on the balls of her feet, suddenly nervous. “What do you think? It's not an eyesore, right?” The words are a little hurried, her nerves showing and, maybe for that reason, she doesn't let Regina answer, instead rushing to add, “No. Wait. Let me give you a demonstration. Before you decide.”

 

Regina's eyebrows quirk upwards, her expression caught somewhere between surprise and amusement. She nods her head though, agreeing to the demonstration without words.

 

Emma steps up onto the thick blue mat, and moves over to the salmon ladder. She grips the shiny metal bar carefully, sliding her hands along it before settling into a firm cross grip - one hand facing forward, the other backwards. She eyes the slots on either side, takes a deep breath, and then forces the bar out of its cradle and up one rung, then two, then three, then four. Four is the top because she hasn't made this salmon ladder especially tall - safety concerns and all. She lets herself hang a moment, arms still flexed in perfect ells, and she glances over her shoulder and down at Regina.

 

Regina is looking up at her with an expression filled with desire that is obvious even from this vantage point. Emma nearly gulps at the sight, butterflies suddenly alive in her stomach, and for a moment she can do nothing but stare down, watching as Regina’s tongue darts out and moistens her lips. Spurred on by that, Emma neglects to reach for the rope ladder she's added for the purpose of safe decent, and, instead, refocuses her eyes on the slots, sliding the bar out and down the rungs in quick succession. She’s definitely showing off.

 

She hops down onto the ground, shaking her hands out and moving off the mat towards Regina. The desire in Regina's expression is even more obvious down here, where Emma can see just exactly how dark her eyes are, and any nervousness she was feeling minutes ago is gone, replaced with a sort of smugness. She grins, repeating her previous question with completely different inflection, “It's not an eyesore, _right_?”

 

The sound that leaves Regina's throat is somewhere near a growl, “No.”

 

Emma is feeling extra smug now, ridiculously pleased with herself for having managed to pull this reaction from Regina. She can't help but add with only the hint of teasing in her voice, “Are you sure? Because I can take it down. If you want. Like I promised.”

 

“No,” Regina repeats, her voice raspy but firm, “it stays.” Her eyes are somehow darker as she closes the gap between them, crushing her lips against Emma's, and tangling her hands in Emma's hair, backing her up until they're on the blue mat.

 

Emma doesn’t really know how she gets from standing upright to on her back on the mat. It's only when she feels Regina fumbling with the buttons of her shorts that it occurs to her that they should stop. She breaks their kiss. “R-Regina. Regina,” she manages to get out as she pants but Regina is undeterred, moving to press kisses into the crook of Emma's neck and finally managing to get the button of Emma’s shorts undone.

 

For a moment Emma's mind goes completely blank and she's not sure why on earth she would want to end this but slowly she remembers just why this is a bad idea. “Stop.”

 

Regina's fingers still instantly at that word and she lifts her head, her eyes searching Emma's, confusion and concern written all over her face.

 

Emma’s heart is pounding in her chest, her mind still precariously close to blank, and all she manages as way of explanation is, “Outside. Neighbours.”

 

Realization dawns on Regina's face but instead of appearing alarmed, she smiles coyly. “We’re under the cloaking spell, dear.”

 

“Oh,” is all Emma can think to say, not really understanding.

 

“No one can see us,” Regina adds when Emma doesn't catch on even after a minute.

 

Emma's eyes widen. “ _Oh_ ,” she repeats, this time in understanding.

 

Regina laughs and Emma reaches up and loops her arms around Regina’s neck, pulling her back down towards her, crushing their lips together with new urgency.

 

xxxxxx

 

The next morning, Emma sits nervously through breakfast, barely touching her pancakes.

 

Henry eyes her suspiciously. “You okay, Ma?”

 

“Fine, fine. I'm fine,” Emma mumbles out, which only makes Henry’s eyebrow quirk upwards skeptically. “I'm fine,” she insists once more, a little more forcefully this time.

 

Regina looks over, taking in Emma's barely touched pancakes and the way her knee is bouncing up and down. The expression that crosses her face is far too knowing for Emma's liking and she offers Emma a fond smile before she turns her gaze towards Henry. “Your mother is just excited about giving you your birthday present.”

 

Emma is relieved that Regina has said _excited_ instead of _nervous_. Emma doesn't really want Henry to know that she woke up this morning suddenly terrified about him hating the gift she's worked so hard on.

 

Henry perks up at the mention of a gift. “My present?” he grins, practically bouncing in his seat - thirteen is apparently not so old that he doesn't care about gifts. “Can I have it _now_?”

 

Regina eyes his half finished meal and Emma's barely touched plate and Emma is positive that she's going to insist that they _both_ eat more before any gifts will be given but instead she shrugs one shoulder. “I suppose we could finish breakfast afterwards.”

 

Henry grins wider, now he _is_ bouncing in his seat. “Where is it?” he looks around, most likely searching for something wrapped.

 

Emma laughs. It's a nervous sort of chuckle because her stomach is still in knots but she reaches over and ruffles Henry's hair and says, “Come on kid, it's outside.”

 

“Is it a bike?” Henry wonders curiously as they all head outside.

 

“Not a bike.” Emma shakes her head.

 

Henry looks around the backyard, confused. It looks exactly the same as the backyard always looks. “I...don't understand.”

 

Regina laughs at the confused expression on his face and then she waves her hand and the cloaking spell is lifted.

 

Emma draws in a breath and holds it as Henry's jaw slackens.

 

“I-Is...is that?” he seems speechless.

 

“A salmon ladder,” Regina fills in the words he's struggling to get out.

 

“You got me a salmon ladder?” Henry's voice is filled with awe as he looks up at Regina.

 

“Your mother built it. It was her idea.” Regina motions with her hand over towards Emma.

 

Henry spins to look at Emma and then he's moving towards her, slamming into her with enough force that it causes Emma to release the breath she’s still holding. “Thank you, thank you,” he chants.

 

Emma wraps her arms around him, pulling him closer and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “You like it?” she whispers, her lips still pressed into his hair.

 

Henry pulls back just enough to look up at her. “Duh, Ma. It's the coolest gift ever.”

 

Emma doesn't know why her heart jumps at that, doesn't know why she suddenly feels choked up. This isn't the first birthday she’s shared with Henry but it is the first one they've shared like this - the three of them together like a real family and without any imminent threat. Being here for Henry's birthday like this, being able to give him a gift that she's put thought and effort into, and to have him like it - it just all means so much to her. Her voice is just a smidge too thick when she asks, “Cooler than those lightsabers you told me your mom got you for your eighth birthday?”

 

“Even cooler,” Henry confirms. He seems to understand that she's overwhelmed because he squeezes her once more, tightly, and whispers, “Love you, Ma,” before he untangles himself from her arms and bounds over towards the salmon ladder to inspect it up close.

 

Regina moves over to Emma, wrapping her arm around her waist and pressing a kiss into her hair. “You didn't need to be nervous.”

 

“I wasn't,” Emma insists but she doesn't dare look at Regina because she knows the lie will be written all over her face.

 

“The pancakes you didn't touch beg to differ,” Regina says but it's not pushing, it’s just gentle, and she leaves it at that, dropping the arm that’s around Emma's waist and taking her hand instead, tugging her in the direction of Henry and the salmon ladder. “Henry,” she calls ahead, “You should let Emma give you a demonstration.”

 

Emma blushes a little, recalling how yesterday's demonstration ended, but she's grinning when she steps onto the blue mat and moves over to the bar. Just like yesterday, she moves the bar up the four rungs with ease and at the top, she glances back down. Regina's arm is around Henry's shoulders and Henry is whooping in excitement and Emma's heart swells. She loves this - _them_ \- so much.

 

“Watch this Henry,” Emma calls down, grinning as she moves the bar backwards down the four rungs.

 

Henry is thrilled, his grin wide and his eyes shining with delight as he declares, “Ma, that was awesome. You could totally be on American Ninja Warrior.”

 

Emma rubs the back of her neck, shoves down a sudden flurry of discomfort in the pit of her stomach, and laughs the comment off. “Nah, I don't think so, kid.”

 

Henry shrugs, unbothered by Emma’s rejection of his idea and too excited to notice anything amiss, but Regina picks up on Emma's hesitation immediately. She quirks a curious eyebrow in Emma's direction, but before she can even ask a question, Henry is demanding her attention.

 

“Mom, can I call Ava and Nick? I want them to come see. They're gonna think this is the coolest.”

 

Regina's eyes linger on Emma's a moment longer, the unspoken question there in her expression, but she turns to look over at Henry. “After breakfast, dear.”

 

Emma isn’t sure if in the flurry of birthday activities Regina forgets to ask her about it, or if she simply chooses not to, but, either way, Emma is relieved to not have to answer the question of why exactly talking about competing on American Ninja Warrior makes her uncomfortable.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma officially moves into the manor in late September. Unofficially she's been living there much longer - it just takes her awhile to realize that's the case. It's actually her mother who points it out at lunch one day with a pointed _you haven’t slept at the loft in weeks_. Emma broaches the subject with Regina that same night.

 

“So...ummm….” Emma fidgets nervously on the couch. “My mom said something weird today.”

 

“When does Snow say anything that _isn't_ weird?” Regina asks with a perfectly straight face.

 

Emma rolls her eyes and shoves Regina's shoulder playfully but then she gets quiet, wringing her hands together. She wonders if she should maybe just drop this.

 

“Well?” Regina says carefully, quirking an eyebrow.

 

“I...umm...I've been sleeping here a lot. Like every night? For weeks?” Emma's not sure why it sounds so much like a question and she bites her lip to keep herself from continuing to ramble.

 

Regina's expression is completely unreadable as she studies Emma. Finally she says, “I know.”

 

“Oh,” Emma says, not really sure how to respond. What is Regina trying to tell her? Has she just been indulging Emma by letting her stay here? Has she been waiting for Emma to take a hint and go back to the loft? “Why didn't you say anything?” she practically whispers.

 

Regina smiles then, soft and tender and so very very fond. “I didn't want to spook you. I just thought...I'd wait for you to bring it up. Of course your mother pushed before you were ready, I should have seen that coming.” That last bit is added almost under her breath, a grumbling more than anything.

 

Emma's brow knits into a frown, uncertain. “Spook?”

 

Regina smiles that same smile again, the one that somehow manages to say _I love you_ without words. She reaches over and carefully pries apart Emma's clasped hands, lacing her fingers with Emma's instead and squeezing gently. “Moving in is a big step. I thought it might be overwhelming for you and I thought when you felt ready to discuss it, you would. I didn't see the need to push. Especially when you were already sleeping here, regardless.”

 

Emma is still frowning but the hope in her voice is unmistakable. “So....you want me to move in?”

 

“Yes,” Regina says and it's almost a laugh. That one word is somehow _you're ridiculous_ , and _I love you_ , and _I want this_ , and _I promise_ , all rolled into one.

 

Emma smiles then, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards until she's beaming. “Okay.”

 

“Okay,” Regina repeats and it's soft and it's happy and she leans over and kisses Emma.

 

xxxxxx

 

Right around the time that Emma officially moves in, Henry gets the flu. The flu means Henry stays home from school, curled up on the couch for the better part of a week, with Regina and Emma taking turns staying home from work to take care of him.

 

Emma comes home on day four to find both Henry and Regina in the living room, staring almost transfixed at the TV.

 

“Ma!” Henry spots her first and he fumbles with the remote and hits pause.

 

He is practically vibrating with excitement and Emma's confusion mounts. “Feeling better, kid?”

 

Henry bobs his head, grins at her, and then demands seriously, “Why didn't you tell us?”

 

Emma frowns, eyeing Regina who is looking at her with an expression filled with a kind of uncertainty that doesn't really match with Henry's excitement. “Tell you what?” she asks, looking back at Henry.

 

Henry is still grinning but, instead of answering her, he unpauses the TV.

 

Emma's eyes follow his until she's staring at the TV. It's American Ninja Warrior. “W-what?” she stutters out, even as her brain is already catching up, even as she sees herself, twenty five and lost, come into the frame.

 

“The PVR recorded a marathon of old American Ninja Warrior episodes,” Henry explains.

 

She never should have bought them the PVR is the first thing Emma thinks. She should have let Regina ban American Ninja Warrior from their Monday tradition when she offered that option is the second thing she thinks.

 

“This is so cool, Ma.” Henry is looking at her again, still grinning, impossibly happy because of this discovery. “You should have told us you competed.”

 

Emma just stares at him horrified, and Henry's smile begins to fall, the realization that Emma doesn't actually find this _cool_ clearly dawning on him.

 

“Emma?” Regina says and it's so soft and so concerned.

 

Emma can't do this though. She can't explain this. Not to Henry. Her brain is screaming at her and she does the one thing she hasn't even considered in quite a while - she turns and runs.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma isn't sure how long she's been sitting in Henry's castle when Regina appears, just that it’s long enough that she can't really feel her hands anymore.

 

Regina pauses at the base of the structure and looks up at Emma.

 

“I was coming home,” Emma says, ignoring the way her chest somehow both tightens and expands at that word - _home_.

 

“I know,” Regina says seriously and she sounds like she really does believe it.

 

“Then...why?” Emma can't really figure out how to phrase the question but Regina seems to understand it regardless.

 

Wordlessly, Regina holds up the red jacket in her hands. She climbs up and drapes the jacket over Emma's shoulders, sitting herself down, her legs dangling next to Emma's over the edge of the play structure. “It's cold. And you left without your jacket.”

 

“Thanks,” Emma mumbles, slipping her arms into the jacket and zipping it up.

 

They sit quietly for several minutes, an inch of space between them.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Regina is the one to finally break the silence.

 

Emma shrugs, looking down at her hands in her lap - they’re still cold but she can at least feel them now, the jacket doing its job to raise her core temperature.

 

Regina's lips purse, her brow crinkling in thought, before she says, “This is why you were so uncomfortable that first time we watched the show? Why you reacted oddly when Henry suggested you compete on his birthday?”

 

Those are closer to statements than questions but Emma bobs her head anyway, confirming.

 

“Can I ask why?” Regina says it carefully, like she's not sure what the right course of action here is.

 

Emma shrugs. “It's embarrassing,” she mumbles out, chancing a glance over at Regina.

 

Regina looks surprised by that confession. “How so?” she asks like she really wants to know the answer. “From what I saw, you were incredible.” She sounds genuinely awed when she says the word _incredible_ and she smiles, adding, “You made it up the warped wall,” as if Emma might have forgotten that part.

 

That smile warms something somewhere in Emma's chest, lightens the weight of the past that's pressing down on her shoulders. This isn't like the last time Regina asked. Now there is _home_ , the place she shares with Henry and Regina, and there is the memory of hundreds of _I love yous_ and _I need yous_ and _I want yous_ , and those might be enough to keep her from being consumed by the memory of aching loneliness. She might be able to explain now, but she doesn’t even know where to start. “It’s just…” she sighs. “They wanted me to pick a Ninja name…”

 

“Okay,” Regina says uncertainly but so very patiently. She reaches for Emma's hand, lacing their fingers together and tugging upwards, so that she can press gentle kisses to Emma's knuckles and the back of her hand.

 

Emma doesn't understand how a gesture so simple could be so comforting. It bolsters her, grounds her here in this place where she knows she is loved, and when Regina lowers their joined hands into her lap, Emma really does try to explain.

 

“I’d seen the show a few times and it seemed interesting and like something I might be good at. It was in the earlier seasons, before it was really popular, so the Boston walk on line wasn't so long. I just thought, what the hell, I'll give it a shot. But then they wanted me to pick a Ninja name. _Something that describes you_ , they said.”

 

Regina squeezes Emma's hand but she doesn't say anything, she just let's Emma tell the story at her pace.

 

“And I just...froze. Because what was I? Other than a bail bondsperson, _what was I_ ? Alone. That's it. The only thing I could come up with was _alone_ . No family, no friends, I barely had acquaintances.” She scoffs. “ _The Lonely Ninja_ . That's what my Ninja name should have been…they let me not pick one though, so, small reliefs. Of course, what they wanted to know next was who would be cheering for me in the family and friends section. The look on their faces when I said no one... _pity_. Awful, awful pity, at poor, poor Emma, all alone in the world.”

 

Regina squeezes her hand again, reaches over and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. It's so gentle, so tender, and it makes Emma want to cry. “You aren't alone now,” Regina says, her eyes shining with love but with something else too - guilt, Emma realizes.

 

“I know,” Emma whispers and she looks at the ground because she can't bare to see that guilt in Regina's eyes. There's minutes of silence before she says, “You probably think this is silly. But that's all I think of when I think of competing on American Ninja Warrior. Not making it up the warped wall. Not qualifying for City Finals...which I didn't even show up for, by the way. The only thing I think of is aching loneliness. I didn't want you and Henry to ever know because it's embarrassing. I didn't want you to _see_ just how pathetic I am.”

 

“ _Hey_ , look at me,” Regina says and it's firm and it's forceful and when Emma does she's surprised to find not pity, or sympathy, or even lingering guilt, but something fierce, protective almost, in the brown eyes staring at her. “You are not pathetic. If anyone else said that about you, I would incinerate them.”

 

Emma frowns, “Regina-”

 

“ _No_ .” Regina doesn't let her speak. “You are incredible, Emma. And I'm not talking about you making it up that warped wall, which is incredible for a whole other set of reasons. I'm talking about the person you are. The person you became _despite_ everything the world has thrown at you. You're kind, and generous, and brave. And maybe you watch that episode of American Ninja Warrior and the only thing you can see is loneliness. But the only thing _I_ saw was strength. And I'm sorry, so sorry, more than I will ever be able to make up for, that you had that experience, that you ever had to feel that alone. But I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure that you never feel alone again.”

 

Emma blinks slowly, a little speechless and a lot overwhelmed. She leans over, dropping her forehead so that it’s pressed into Regina’s shoulder and she tries to focus on taking slow even breaths and _not_ crying.

 

Regina let's go of Emma's hand so that she can wrap both arms around her frame instead, holding her close, rubbing her back soothingly.

 

Emma shifts, turns her head just enough so that when she speaks she is whispering in Regina's ear, “I love you, so much.”

 

“And I, you,” Regina murmurs.

 

It's several minutes before Emma straightens. Her eyes glossy with tears that never did spill over. She leans over and pecks Regina on the lips. It's a quick chaste kiss but they're both smiling softly when she pulls back. “You know,” she says, “It doesn't bother me, not anymore.”

 

“What's that?” Regina quirks an eyebrow, curious.

 

“American Ninja Warrior. I didn't want you and Henry to know about me competing when I was young and alone...but the show itself...I actually like it now. It makes me think of being smooshed on the couch between you and Henry. Or the way Henry laughs when he's monkeying around with the salmon ladder. Or the way _you_ look at me when _I_ use the salmon ladder.” She blushes at that last bit, clearing her throat before continuing, “I just mean...I don't associate that show with loneliness anymore. I associate it with love.”

 

“I love you,” Regina breathes out, like there's nothing else worth saying and maybe there isn't.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma is worried about how Henry will react when they get home. She’s worried that he’ll be upset at her for running. She's worried that he'll have questions that she won't have good answers for.

 

But when they walk in the door and he appears from the living room, he just moves over to her, wraps his arms around her waist and says, “I love you, Ma.”

 

Emma presses a kiss into his hair. “I love _you_ , kid. More than you know.”

 

xxxxxx

 

A Saturday in late November finds Regina and Emma raking leaves in the backyard.

 

“Remind me why we aren't making the kid do this, again? Isn't that the reason why people have kids? So they can do the annoying chores?” Emma jokes as she scoops leaves into a bag.

 

Regina shakes her head at her. “You know if you whined less, we'd get done sooner.”

 

“But it's cold,” Emma makes her voice purposely whiney because it's fun to annoy Regina. “Why can't we take a break? Go inside? Warm up?”

 

Regina shakes her head again. “Nice try. We aren’t going inside until these leaves are collected.”

 

“Fine,” Emma heaves an exaggerated sigh. “I'll just freeze to death.”

 

Regina looks past Emma at something a moment and then her eyes twinkle and she smirks. “I bet going up and down the salmon ladder would warm you up. If you're so concerned about freezing to death.”

 

Emma laughs, realizing that what Regina has been staring at is the salmon ladder, and she can't resist waggling her eyebrows up and down. “You'd like that, wouldn't you?”

 

Regina rolls her eyes. “I'd like it if you'd quit whining.”

 

“Mmhm,” Emma laughs again and she moves over to the salmon ladder. She peels off her gloves because she needs better grip on the bar and then she shucks her jacket too for better range of motion.

 

“What are you doing?” Regina calls to her, moving over to the salmon ladder.

 

“What you suggested,” Emma answers.

 

“I was kidding. I thought that was clear. How is taking your jacket off a good solution to warming yourself up?” Regina tsks.

 

Emma shrugs, offering Regina a lopsided grin before she moves over to the bar, and with practiced ease, moves it up the rungs, then down the rungs, then right back up the rungs. After she makes the descent back down once more, she hops onto the mat, scooping up her jacket and pulling it back on. “All warm,” she grins, zipping the jacket up.

 

Regina rolls her eyes but she's smiling at Emma, unmistakably fond. “You're ridiculous.”

 

“But you love me,” Emma says with certainty, moving over to Regina and wrapping her arm around her waist to pull her close.

 

Regina rolls her eyes again but she lets herself be tugged closer and she leans in and kisses Emma. It's a slow, languid kiss, and when they part, she's smiling so very softly. “Yes, I love you.”

 

Emma grins. “Good because I love you too.”

 

Regina kisses Emma again and this time when she pulls back, she quirks an eyebrow, “ _Now_ can we finish cleaning up these leaves? ”

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Emma agrees, stealing one more quick kiss before jogging over to grab her rake.

 

They work in silence for awhile, collecting leaves into piles.

 

“You know,” Emma says when she is dumping one of the piles of leaves into a bag that Regina is holding open for her. “Sometimes I think that I like that salmon ladder more than Henry does.”

 

Regina smiles at her. “Henry loves it, Emma. You're just a lot better at it than he is.”

 

Emma shrugs. She lets a beat pass before she speaks, “I've been thinking about something.”

 

“Oh?” Regina says carefully. If she's confused by the segue though, she doesn't let it show.

 

“It's gonna snow soon. And then I won't be able to use the salmon ladder…” Emma starts, biting her lip a second before continuing, “And, well...I was looking some stuff up the other day...and there's this Ninja gym in Boston. I thought maybe I'd check it out? On a Saturday or something?”

 

Regina can't seem to manage to contain her surprise, her eyes widening before she can stop them.

 

Emma's shoulders sag a bit. “Forget it. It was a dumb idea,” she mumbles. “Boston is too far.”

 

Regina shakes her head, reaches over and settles a hand on Emma's shoulder. “It is not a dumb idea. It just surprised me. I thought...after what you told me about competing before...I just assumed you wouldn't be interested in a Ninja gym.”

 

Emma rubs the back of her neck, suddenly feeling just a bit uneasy. She shifts, rocking on the balls of her feet. “I guess...worrying about you and Henry finding out was the only thing that made me uncomfortable before...and now that you know…” she shrugs. “I don’t really want to have to wait till spring to use the salmon ladder again. Ninja Warrior obstacles are fun.”

 

“Okay.” Regina smiles, squeezing Emma's shoulder.

 

“Okay?” Emma echoes, although it's a question more than anything. “You really wouldn't mind if I checked it out? Even though it’s in Boston? So I’ll have to be gone most of a day?” She bites her lip. She hates feeling like a bother - and that's exactly how this request makes her feel, like maybe she’s asking too much.

 

“Emma,” Regina says softly, and there's something about her expression that makes Emma certain that she knows exactly what Emma is thinking.

 

The hand on Emma's shoulder moves upwards, Regina’s thumb brushing tenderly along Emma's jawline, and then her fingers tuck fly away blonde hair behind her ear. “Of course I wouldn't mind. Not if it it will make you happy.”

 

“Oh...okay.” Emma says, a slow smile spreading across her face. It's still hard sometimes, getting used to this - being with someone who actually care about _her_ needs, about what _she_ wants, about _her_ happiness.

 

Regina returns the smile with a fond one of her own.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma checks out the Boston Ninja gym once in early December. It's just as fun as she thought it would be - there's something exhilarating about making it up the gym’s warped wall.

 

In the weeks that follow though, there isn't time to make a return trip. She's too busy hanging Christmas lights along the front of the manor, picking out a tree and decorating it, and helping Regina make batch after batch after batch of Christmas cookies (which, okay, _helping_ is mostly just sneaking samples but Regina doesn't seem to mind).

 

It's the best Christmas she's ever had even before it's Christmas Day. It's not the lights, or the tree, or even the endless supply of cookies - it's the feeling in her chest when she comes home after a long shift to a warm house that smells like pine and sugar, with the sound of Regina and Henry laughing in the kitchen filtering down the hallway. _Home_ is the only Christmas gift she's ever actually wanted and now, impossibly, she just has it.

 

When Emma wakes up on Christmas Day, it's to coffee with Bailey’s (hot chocolate for Henry) and fresh baked cinnamon rolls that Regina has apparently snuck out of bed to make.

 

They settle in the living room with their second round of warm drinks to open stockings and then gifts in their pajamas.

 

When Emma mentions changing before gifts, Henry practically yells, “No! Pajamas are family tradition.”

 

“Okay, kid,” Emma laughs and the warmth that floods her chest is only in part due to the sip of coffee she's just taken. _Family_ and _tradition_ are more than she would ever have dared wish for. She doesn't need anything more than that and, yet, she still winds up with a pile of things in front of her - new mittens, and a hat, and jeans, and the softest sweater.

 

When their out of gifts under the tree, Emma slips a narrow wrapped box out from where she shoved it in the tree branches the afternoon before. “Here,” she says carefully, holding it out for Regina to take as she settles back down on the couch beside her.

 

Regina quirks a curious eyebrow, her fingers brushing gently against Emma's as she takes the box.

 

Emma holds her breath, her lip caught between her teeth, as she watches Regina unwrap the gift. She’s spent a ludicrous amount of money on this and she isn't sure Regina is going to like it at all. It's kind of terrifying to think that she might not.

 

Regina removes the wrapping paper slowly, with care, like she knows she's opening something precious. When the wrapping paper is finally removed, Regina carefully pries open the lid of the box and stares down at the bracelet it contains. It's delicate, white gold with opal gemstones.

 

Time passes slowly and after what feels like an eternity, Regina looks up at Emma. “It’s your birthstone?”

 

Emma nods, her lip still caught between her teeth.

 

“It's beautiful,” Regina whispers, eyes still locked with Emma's.

 

Emma finally stops biting her lip long enough to say, “If you'd rather it be _your_ birthstone, we can exchange it.”

 

“No,” Regina shakes her head firmly. “It's perfect.” She takes the bracelet out of the box and holds it out towards Emma. “Will you put it on for me?”

 

Emma has seen Regina put on enough bracelets while getting ready to know that she does not _need_ help to put this one on. She doesn't need help but she _wants_ Emma’s help anyway - and that somehow means more than Regina's declaration that the gift is perfect.

 

Emma takes the bracelet from Regina and carefully slides it around her wrist. Her fingers linger on Regina's skin even after the clasp is done up, her eyes locked with the warm brown ones staring at her. They say _I love you, I love you, I love you_ over and over again without words.

 

Henry clears his throat, interrupting the moment. He waits for both his mothers to look over at him before he says, “Not that that isn't a nice bracelet or whatever...but can we go give Ma her gift now or what?”

 

Emma laughs and then her brow crinkles as her brain catches up to the second part of what he's said. Hasn't she already gotten her gifts? And go? Go where?

 

“Yes.” Regina smiles brightly. “Let's go.”

 

“Go?” Emma says out loud, looking from Regina to Henry. “Where?”

 

Henry doesn't answer, he just laughs, reaching for Emma's hands and trying to tug her off the couch.

 

Emma takes the hint and stands, letting Henry drag her towards the entranceway. He seems more excited about whatever this gift is than his own presents.

 

Regina follows them to the entranceway and passes out coats from the closet.

 

Emma takes hers with a frown. “You realize we’re still in our pajamas, yeah?”

 

Regina looks amused and Henry laughs. “You have to open gifts in pajamas, it’s-”

 

“ _Tradition_ ,” Emma cuts him off and she's grinning when she finishes with, “Yeah, yeah, I got it, kid.”

 

They pile into the Mercedes and Regina drives them through town. It's still early and the streets are quiet, everyone home with their families. Emma stares out the window, trying to sort out where they're going. She's nothing but confused though when Regina pulls over in front of what Emma was pretty sure was an abandoned building right up to this moment.

 

“You got me an abandoned building? How'd you know that's what I wanted?” Emma can't  help but joke.

 

Regina rolls her eyes. “You're not as funny as you think you are.” It would be harsh if she didn't look so impossibly fond.

 

“Mean,” Emma pretends to pout.

 

Regina laughs, reaches over and brushes her hand against Emma's shoulder as if to soothe her, and then she undoes her seatbelt and says, “Come on.”

 

Emma grins and climbs out of the car, following Regina and Henry into the building.

 

When Regina turns the lights on, all Emma can do his stare.

 

This abandoned building has been transformed into a Ninja gym. There's a warped wall and a salmon ladder twice as tall as the one in their backyard. There's floating steps, and a rock wall, and four other obstacles.

 

“Pretty great, huh?” Henry grins.

 

“I...I…” Emma is genuinely speechless as she looks from Henry to Regina.

 

Regina smiles fondly at her, eyes shining, waiting patiently for Emma to find her voice.

 

“I...this is just...how...how did you get this built in a month?” is what Emma finally manages to get out. It took her two and a half weeks to build one salmon ladder. How on earth has Regina managed this in the time since Emma mentioned wanting to go to the Boston gym?

 

Regina studies her carefully for several seconds before she admits, “Well, actually, this was supposed to be your birthday present. We just put it on hold after…” she trails off but Emma knows what she means.

 

Emma's hand reaches up automatically, her fingers clutching at the three small circular pendants on the chain around her neck - the birthday gift she was given, apparently instead of _this_. She drags the pendants along their chain, her fingers rubbing against their engravings - her name, Henry’s, and Regina's. She likes to wear the Henry and Regina pendants flipped backward, so that their names are pressed against her skin, against her heart - it’s what feels right.

 

Regina smiles, knowingly, before she finishes explaining, “We just didn't want you to think we were pushing anything. As soon as you mentioned checking out the gym in Boston, I called Marco and got the project going again.”

 

“Marco did all this?” Emma asks, fingers still clutching at her necklace.

 

Regina nods, “With some help from the Dwarves. And Lancelot. And David.”

 

“And me!” Henry pipes up.

 

Regina chuckles. “Yes. Henry also helped.”

 

“Wow,” Emma breathes out, still just in awe of the whole thing.

 

“I'm sure it isn't as well equipped as the gym in Boston but we thought you might like it,” Regina says.

 

“It's better. It's _here_. Thank you. This is...it's too much.” Emma lets the necklace slip from her fingers and strides over to Regina, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her close. “Have I told you that you're incredible? That I'm the luckiest?” she whispers and she doesn't wait for an answer, just leans forward and presses her lips to Regina's in a searing kiss that lasts maybe just a bit longer than a kiss in front of their son ought to.

 

Henry is looking studiously at his shoes when they finally separate. One of Emma's arms is still around Regina's waist when she asks, “So which of these obstacles are we trying first, kid?”

 

“The warped wall, _duh_ ,” Henry answers immediately.

 

And that's how Emma ends up scaling a warped wall in plaid pajamas.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma finds time to use her very own Ninja gym nearly every day in January.

 

Slowly something interesting happens - it stops being _her_ Ninja gym and becomes _Storybrooke’s_.

 

It starts with Henry's school friends, who mostly like to chase each other around, their shrill laughter bouncing off the walls. But who also like it when Emma shows them how to use the obstacles. It's oddly heartwarming to see how proud they are of themselves when they accomplish even a small part of an obstacle.

 

Then Lancelot stops in with Guinevere one night. He smiles sort of sheepishly and says they saw the lights on and he just wanted to show Guinevere the thing he helped build. Emma encourages him to give the warped wall a shot - she isn't surprised when he makes it up after a few tries. When they’re leaving, she tells Lancelot to come back whenever he wants. She’s a little surprised, but strangely happy, when he does come back a few days later, then again a few days after that, until it becomes a regular occurrence.

 

Mulan is next. She overhears Emma and Lancelot talking about the gym at Granny’s one day and she asks if she can come by. She's been looking for a new workout routine, she says. Emma agrees easily. She likes having people around at her Ninja gym

 

Marian hears about it from Lancelot as well and she starts showing up fairly regularly, sometimes with Roland who loves to roll around on the gym mats, and sometimes alone. Emma watches in amusement as Mulan and Marian seem to slowly gravitate towards each other. She wonders if they even realize that, before long, they've coordinated their gym times so that they're always there together. Then one day they actually _show up_ together - they walk through the door holding hands. Emma waggles her eyebrows at Mulan, who rolls her eyes in response, but who also can't seem to help but grin. Emma laughs, happy for the two of them, before she is tugged away by Ava who wants Emma, as promised, to help her with the salmon ladder.

 

It's not just Henry’s school friends, or Lancelot, Mulan, and Marian - more and more people start coming by as word spreads. Emma even starts leaving the door unlocked - that way people can use it even when she's not there. She figures she's the sheriff and her girlfriend is the mayor, no one is going to do something stupid like vandalize the place.

 

Before long it seems like everyone from town has filtered in at least once or twice. Some of them want to try out the obstacles, some of them just want to watch. All of them want to talk to her - about American Ninja Warrior, or the latest town gossip, or the weather. It’s odd because she’s always felt like the only way they see her is as the Savior. Responsible _for_ them but _not_ one of them. But the ninja gym makes her see that maybe she has a role here that has nothing to do with the number of times she's saved them, that has nothing to do with who her parents are. Suddenly she feels like she belongs in this town in a way she never really has before.

 

xxxxxx

 

It’s late February and they are making dinner when Emma asks, “What would you think if I were to maybe try competing on American Ninja Warrior next season?”

 

Regina pauses what she's doing, knife hovering over the cutting board as she looks up at Emma. “Did someone suggest that to you?”

 

The question is oddly sharp, Regina's expression tense but unreadable, and Emma can't help but frown. “No.”

 

“Okay.” The tension in Regina's shoulders eases and she sets the knife down. “If it's something you'd like to do, then I think you should.”

 

“You do?” Emma tilts her head. “You're not just saying what you think I want to hear?”

 

It's Regina turn to frown and she moves around the island, stopping beside Emma. “You want the truth?” she asks seriously, her hands reaching out and settling on Emma's shoulders.

 

Emma bites her lip, searching Regina's eyes a long moment before she nods.

 

“I think,” Regina says, “You are shockingly good at completing those obstacles. And I cannot wait to stand in the _family_ section and cheer you on.”

 

Emma smiles, her heart fluttering at the word _family_ on Regina's lips. What she wants to say is _thank you_ but what she says instead is, “I’ll have to submit an audition tape. They might not pick me.”

 

“They'd be idiots not to,” Regina says firmly.

 

Emma laughs before she sobers. “They still might not.”

 

“Then we’ll go wait in the walk on line,” Regina says like she doesn't see the problem.

 

“But the walk on line is really long now that the show is popular. Like weeks.”

 

“Do I strike you as someone who lacks patience?” Regina quirks an eyebrow.

 

Emma thinks about how long Regina waited to enact her revenge on Snow. She laughs. “No, I guess not.”

 

Regina laughs too and then she leans forward and kisses Emma.

 

xxxxxx

 

The very next day Henry and Zelena show up at the Sheriff's Station together.

 

Emma does a double take at the duo. Even though they have been spending more time with Zelena lately _as a family_ , seeing her and Henry together like this catches Emma off guard. Zelena isn’t exactly the type to just hang out with kids. “Is everything okay?” She asks hurriedly, rising from her desk, her heart already thumping loudly in her chest, worry and adrenaline flooding her system in equal measure, as she reaches for her jacket.

 

Zelena rolls her eyes. “Simmer down there blondie, nothing is on fire, there’s no new big bad terrorizing the helpless villagers. Can't your son and your sister-in-law simply pop in to visit?”

 

Emma frowns, although she's not sure if it's at being called _blondie_ or at Zelena calling her her _sister-in-law_. Either way, she's still highly confused about what’s going on. “Henry?” her gaze turns to her son, feeling like he might be her best bet for sorting this out.

 

“We’re here to help you make your audition tape,” Henry says brightly, as if that makes any kind of sense.

 

“Huh?” Emma’s nose crinkles.

“You need an audition tape if you want to be selected to compete on American Ninja Warrior,” Zelena says in a way that manages to sound like she thinks Emma is a complete idiot.

 

“Yeah, I know. But...ummm... _you’re_ going to help make it?” Emma doesn't care how

she sounds, she's still having a really hard time wrapping her head around this visit.

 

“Of course. Who else in this town do you think would be capable of making a video with the kind of production value required to get you selected? Can you imagine Snow White being put in charge? She'd probably want to include birds. Or singing. Imagine the horror.”

 

“Umm…” is Emma supposed to say something to this?

 

Zelena just keeps talking though. “I have a whole storyboard of ideas. I’ve just been waiting and waiting and waiting for you to figure out that _obviously_ you are meant to compete on American Ninja Warrior. I was starting to think that I was just going to have to suck it up and pay the fine. Or, well, more likely that I was going to have to con Snow White into paying it.”

 

“Wait.” Emma interrupts. “Fine? What fine?”

 

Zelena rolls her eyes, again managing to look like she thinks Emma is a complete idiot. “My sister made the entire town agree not to discuss competing with you. She wrote a bloody bylaw about it. The fine for failing to comply with said bylaw is rather steep.”

“What? _Really_?” Emma frowns. Suddenly Regina's question last night about whether or not someone suggested competing to her makes a hell of a lot more sense.

 

“Yeah,” Henry is the one to confirm.

 

“My sister is extremely protective of you. She loves you quite a lot,” Zelena adds when Emma says nothing. “It's rather nauseating, really.”

 

“Oh,” is all Emma can think to say.

 

“I think this might be the appropriate time for me to say, if you hurt her, I'll murder you,” Zelena says seriously.

 

“Aunt Zelena!” Henry hisses.

 

“What?” Zelena tilts her head in his direction. “Is that not the speech older siblings are supposed to give to suitors who have stolen their younger siblings hearts?”

 

“Not with threats of _actual murder_.” Henry shakes his head incredulously.

 

“Yes, well…” Zelena shrugs, unbothered, and turns her attention back to Emma. “What do you say?”

 

Emma blinks slowly. “I'm not going to hurt Regina.”

 

Zelena rolls her eyes. “Not about _that._ About your audition video.”

 

Keeping up with this conversion is impossible, Emma thinks. “Oh...umm…yeah, you can help with that.”

 

“Excellent decision,” Zelena grins and she looks a little too maniacal for Emma's liking.

 

“Aunt Zelena really does have good ideas, Ma,” Henry pipes up then with a reassuring grin, as if he can see the sudden worry on his mother’s face.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma broaches the subject of the mystery bylaw when they are getting ready for bed that night.

 

“So your sister mentioned something interesting today,” Emma says as she removes the decorative pillows from the bed and tosses them on the ground. Regina prefers if they’re stacked neatly against the wall but Emma doesn’t really see why it matters where she tosses them - they’re just going to be put back on the bed in the morning.

 

“My sister?” Regina quirks a curious eyebrow.

Emma decide to start with, “She wants to make my audition tape.”

 

“Really?” Regina’s eyes widen, surprised.

 

Emma laughs. “Yeah, that was pretty much the expression on my face too. I said yes, though.”

 

“You did?” Regina still looks surprised, it's adorable, really.

 

Emma shrugs. “She sold it well. Something about how it was either her or my mother. And my mother would probably make me sing.”

 

Regina’s nose wrinkles in disgust.

 

“Again, that was also my expression.” Emma laughs once more, pulling the covers on her side of the bed back and climbing in.

 

Regina laughs too, shaking her head. She slips her bracelet, the one Emma bought her for Christmas, off her wrist and sets it carefully on her nightstand. “So that was the interesting thing my sister said today? That she wants to make your audition tape?”  

 

“No,” Emma says. “Well, yes. But not the only thing. She mentioned...a bylaw?”

 

Regina looks up, brown eyes filled with uncertainty, like she’s not sure if she should be apologizing or defending her actions. “Emma, I-”

 

“It’s okay,” Emma interrupts.

 

“It is?” Regina says carefully, quietly, still looking wholly uncertain as she climbs up onto the bed beside Emma, slipping under the covers.

 

Emma shrugs. “I think I understand.” And she does, sort of.

 

Regina must hear the uncertainty there because she eyes Emma carefully and explains, “I just didn’t want anyone pressuring you. I know how the people in this town are. And I didn’t want you to feel...obligated. I want you to compete because it’s something _you_ want to do. Absolutely no other reason.”

 

Emma looks down at her lap and mumbles, “So...it’s not because you think I’m weak?”

 

“Emma, no.” Regina says firmly.

 

Emma looks back up, her eyes searching Regina’s for a lie that she does not find. “Oh. Okay.” It’s a whisper.

 

Regina smiles softly, opens her arms. “Come here.”

 

Emma doesn’t need to be asked twice, she shuffles over, curls herself around Regina like she is a pillow. One of Regina’s hands ends up on Emma’s head, fingers stroking blonde hair gently. Emma could easily fall asleep like this. She nearly _is_ asleep, really, when she mumbles, “I guess I’m still just not used to having someone who…”

 

“ _Loves you_?” Regina tries to finish the sentence that Emma leaves hanging.

 

“Yeah, that too,” Emma mumbles, her eyes sliding shut.

 

“Someone who _what_?” Regina prods, sounding a little desperate for the answer.

 

Emma listens to the sound of Regina’s heart beating under her ear. “Cares,” she breathes the word out between heart beats and then she clarifies, “Someone who cares about what I need.”

 

Regina’s fingers still their path through Emma’s hair long enough for the softest of kisses to be pressed to the top of Emma’s head.

 

“What’d I do to deserve you?” Emma whispers.

 

Regina’s breath hitches, Emma feels it, and there is a moment of silence before she speaks. “What did _you_ do to deserve _me_.” It’s incredulous, disbelieving, genuinely shocked. “Emma, you’ve got that one backwards.”

 

Emma pushes herself up, her head slipping out from under Regina’s fingers. She props herself up on her elbow so that she can look directly into Regina’s eyes when she says. “No.” It’s firm, resolute, and it does not leave any room for debate. She bends her head closer, eyes still fixed with Regina’s, their lips now only a half an inch apart. She repeats the, “ _No_ ,” closing the gap, her lips pressing against Regina’s, her tongue sliding into her mouth, her fingers slipping under Regina’s pajama shirt and pressing against warm, bare skin.

 

She pulls back so that she can kiss the shell of Regina’s ear, the corner of her eye, the crook of her neck, her shoulder, every inch of her. Each kiss is _no_ , is _I love you_ , is _you deserve me_ , is _I deserve you_ , is _we belong together_ , is _we were meant for each other_ , is _the only thing I really need is you._     

 

xxxxxx

 

“You need a Ninja name,” Zelena says when they're together a few days later, going over the audition tape storyboard - which apparently isn't something that Zelena was just joking about.

 

Emma feels herself tense, feels Regina's eyes on her. “Can't we just skip that?”

 

“No,” Zelena shakes her head firmly. “Absolutely not.”

 

“ _Zelena_ ,” Regina warns protectively.

 

Emma can feel that this is heading nowhere good but then Henry’s voice breaks through, breaks up the impending fight before it can occur. “Can I pick it?”

 

Emma sags with relief at the thought of not having to chose herself. She might not be alone anymore but she's not exactly much for self reflection. “Sure, kid,” she smiles at him. “You have something in mind?”

 

Henry has clearly already thought about this because there is not a second of hesitation before he says, “The Fairytale Ninja.”

 

Emma's not sure that's a name she _ever_ would have chosen for herself but she turns it over in her head a few times. She thinks about having to explain why she’s called that. Imagines the looks on peoples faces if she were to say _my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming._ She laughs. _The Fairytale Ninja_ \- it will be like having an inside joke. “Yeah, okay, let's go with that. I like it.”

 

Henry beams, ridiculously pleased, and Emma thinks then that he could have said _The Smelly Ninja_ and she would have agreed if it meant him smiling at her like that.

 

xxxxxx

 

It takes two months for the call to come. Emma is at the Sheriff's Station when it does and she hangs up and immediately scrolls through her contacts, her finger hovers over Regina's name but then she changes her mind. She scoops up her jacket instead and heads to City Hall.

 

She says, “hi,” to Regina's assistant as she walks by and knocks lightly on the frame of Regina's open office door. She doesn't wait for an answer just slips inside and, after a second of hesitation, decides to close the door behind her.

 

Regina looks up, clearly surprised but pleased. She smiles. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

 

Emma shrugs, shoves her hands in her pockets and rocks on the balls of her feet. It’s an attempt at nonchalance. “I've got some news.”

 

Regina quirks an expectant eyebrow, waiting patiently for her to continue.

 

“I got a call,” Emma says. “About American Ninja Warrior…”

 

“ _And?_ ” Regina prompts when Emma doesn't immediately say.

 

Emma grins slowly. “I'm in.”

 

“I knew you would be.” Regina is grinning too and she stands and moves around her desk towards Emma.

 

“You did not,” Emma laughs.

 

Regina doesn't answer that though, she just reaches up and cups Emma's cheeks and leans in to kiss her. She backs Emma up until Emma feels the edge of the desk behind her and then Regina lifts her onto it, settles into the space between her legs, her body pressed close to Emma's. “Do you know how happy I am for you? How proud I am?” she says, her forehead resting against Emma's.

 

Emma would laugh if she wasn't so breathless. “I might fall on the first obstacle, you know.”

 

“Doesn’t matter,” Regina says. One flick of her wrist locks the door, a second has the room shimmering, a silencing spell cast, and then her lips are back on Emma's.

 

xxxxxx

 

The day of the first leg of the competition arrives quickly. Emma is a ball of nerves the whole day - through breakfast, then lunch, then the drive to Boston, then the participant interview she has to film.

 

The only thing that keeps her even remotely calm is having Regina and Henry by her side.

 

At one point, Regina takes Emma’s shaking hands between hers and says, “Henry and I don't care if you fall on the first obstacle. We’ll still love you. And, whatever happens, at the end of night, you're coming home with us.”

 

Something in Emma's chest loosens at that and she finds she can breathe a little easier.

 

When the competition is near starting, they head towards the stadium, Emma's sweaty hand clutched tightly in Regina's. Her slot isn't until about halfway through the list of competitors and it just makes sense for her to watch the other runs while she waits, it can only help her.

 

They step out into the stadium and she someone shouts her name and she freezes. There, up in the bleachers, are her parents, and Zelena, and Ruby and Granny, and all seven of the Dwarves, and Mulan and Marian and Roland, and Lancelot and Guinevere, and Ava and Nick and their father, and at least a dozen more people. They're all waving at her. They've brought signs - for her.

 

“Do you want me to tell them to go home?” Regina asks when a whole minute passes without Emma moving or saying a word.

 

Emma's head turns slowly to look at Regina. “I-” she starts but she’s still a little too speechless to form a coherent thought.

 

“I will,” Regina says and Emma doesn't doubt her for a minute. “I’ll tell them. I’ll _make_ them go.”

 

“ _No_ ,” Emma finally gets ahold of herself. “No, it's okay.” She turns to stare up at the crowd that is here for her. She lifts her arm and waves at them before she turns to look back over at Regina. “Did you know they'd be here?”

 

“No,” Regina says. “I would have warned you.”

 

Henry looks guilty though. “I did,” he admits. “Grandma and Aunt Zelena made me promise not to tell. They wanted it to be a surprise.”

 

“Of course they did.” Regina rolls her eyes and grumbles, “They both like dramatic flair far too much.”

 

Emma laughs at that.

 

“You don't mind, do you, Ma?” Henry asks and he looks worried about the answer.

 

“Nah, kid. I don't mind,” Emma smiles at him and she is only a little surprised to find that that is the truth. Her eyes flicker back up to the crowd. It's sort of nice, really - that there are this many people who want to support her. It's not something she ever imagined herself having.

 

xxxxxx

 

At the starting line, heart thumping loudly in her chest, Emma can’t help but think of the last time she was standing here - alone. She reaches for the necklace around her neck, drags the circular pendants upwards and presses the cool metal to her lips. _Regina, Henry_. It grounds her. Reminds her that this is not at all like the last time. She is here with her family.

 

Her eyes search them out where they stand together on the sidelines. Regina is clutching Henry's hand tightly, like she needs the support. She smiles when Emma's eyes catch hers and Henry waves.

 

“ _Love you_ ,” Emma mouths at them, even though it's probably too far for them to see.

 

And then the start clock is counting down, and it's _Go_ time. She takes a deep breath and tunes out everything but these obstacles in front of her.

 

She knocks down the floating steps, then the rolling log, then two more obstacles. It isn't until she's facing the warped wall that she even registers sound again at all.

 

The crowd is chanting _beat that wall, beat the wall, beat that wall_ in unison but somehow, over all of their voices, Emma swears she can pick out Henry’s clear as day.

 

She pauses, her eyes drawn over towards him. He’s bouncing in place, urging her on. In contrast, Regina is standing perfectly still, her hand still clutched tightly with Henry's - she looks like maybe she's forgetting to breathe and that makes Emma think that she should probably hurry up. She winks at Henry, and then she turns, races up the wall, pulls herself up, and smacks the buzzer, to an eruption of applause from the crowd.

 

From the top of the warped wall, she looks over at the people from Storybrooke cheering in the stands across from her. She looks down at Henry who is still cheering and at Regina who has apparently remembered to breathe and is now mouthing _I love you, I love you, I love you_ over and over again like a chant. And she lets this moment wash over her. Let's it replace the memory of aching loneliness.

 

Emma feels like she is soaring. She can not get down to Henry and Regina fast enough.

 

xxxxxx

 

They run into a bit of a snag after Emma makes the Boston City Finals.

 

The show wants to shoot an interview. She's going to be one of those quote-unquote sob stories Regina complains so much about. That's not so much the problem though. The problem is that they want to come to Storybrooke to shoot it.

 

They have an emergency town meeting about it. Regina lays down the rules for the day in no uncertain terms. Absolutely no magic. Absolutely no discussion of fairytale pasts.

 

Predictably, it takes all of five minutes for the rules to be broken.

 

The camera crew arrives early, stops at Granny's for a coffee, and Snow tries to make small talk.

 

“Thanks for coming all the way out here for this interview,” Snow says. “We're so happy you're going to be featuring Emma. She's my daughter and I couldn't be prouder.”

 

“Snow!” David hisses loudly.

 

“These morons,” Regina grumbles under her breath, before moving forward to smooth it over. “Snow is a nickname,” Regina says, false smile on her face. “And we call her Emma's mother because she's always nagging.”

 

Emma barely holds in laughter at the outraged expression on Snow’s face at being called _nagging_ when she can't really defend herself.

 

“Yep,” David tries to play along. “That's my wife. Nag, nag, nag.”

 

“David!” Snow’s hand flies to her chest like he’s wounded her and Emma does laugh then, she can't help it.

 

Zelena chooses that moment to step forward, thrusting her hand out to the nearest crew member. “I'm Zelena. I produced Emma's audition video. I'm sure you’ll remember it as being more professional than most videos you receive. If you need help today, I've got some ideas.”

 

Emma laughs harder, she really _really_ can't help it.

 

It’s the first of several hiccups. Really, it's a miracle that they make it to the end of the day without having to wipe anyone's memories.

 

xxxxxx

 

The night before they're set to head to Boston for the City Finals, Emma can't sleep. She tries and tries and tries long after Regina’s breathing even outs. Eventually she gives up and slips out of bed, moving quietly out of the room, down the stairs, and out the back door.

 

She's been staring up at the stars for the better part of an hour when Regina appears.

 

“Couldn't sleep?” Regina guesses as she sits down beside Emma.

 

“Yeah,” Emma confirms, not seeing a reason to deny it.

 

Regina reaches for Emma's hand, pulling it into her lap so that she can trace mindless patterns into her palm. “Are you nervous about tomorrow...well, I suppose it’s later today now.”

 

Emma shrugs, looking away from the stars and down at her feet, her hair falling around her like a veil.

 

“Emma,” Regina whispers, and it sounds oddly like pleading. “Please talk to me.”

 

Emma sighs but then she admits quietly, “I just don't want to disappoint anyone.”

 

“Emma,” Regina says again but it sounds different this time, it sounds like understanding. Gentle fingers brush hair out of Emma's face, tucking it behind her ear. “You could never disappoint anyone, darling.”

 

“You don't know that,” Emma shakes her head.

 

Regina sucks in a breath, like she's truly considering it, and then she amends her statement with, “You could _never_ disappoint Henry or I. I don't know about everyone else and, frankly, I do not care. Their opinions are irrelevant.”

 

Somehow this amended statement is more reassuring than the first one even though it's less encompassing. Emma tilts her head slowly to look at Regina, searching her face for something. “Not even if I end the fairytale?”

 

Regina's forehead creases, a flicker of uncertainty on her face, the finger still tracing an aimless pattern across Emma's palm stilling. “What fairytale do you mean?”

 

“Winning American Ninja Warrior,” Emma says with a sigh. “That's all those interviewers wanted to talk about when they were here. They really took _Fairytale Ninja_ and ran with it. A Cinderella story they said. An underdog who shows up once and beats the warped wall, who disappears for six years and reemerges to conquer the warped wall once again.” Her next words are nothing but a whisper, “What good is an underdog story, what good is this _fairytale_ , if I don't win?”

 

Regina takes the hand that is still in her lap and laces their fingers together. “Emma, winning American Ninja Warrior isn't your fairytale,” Regina says and it’s soft but still somehow firm, leaving no room for debate.  She squeezes Emma's hand. “Your fairytale is Henry. It’s me and you, together. It's this family. _We're_ the fairytale. And no matter what happens tomorrow that will still be true.”

 

Emma's brow crinkles as she considers that, considers the possibility that winning tomorrow doesn't matter, that her fairytale is already complete, that it isn't tied at all to success. Her free hand goes to the necklace she's wearing, the one she never takes off, her fingers grasping at the pendants, feeling for the engraved names - hers and Regina's and Henry's. “Do you really think so?” she asks and she hates how desperate it sounds. Hates how badly she wants this to be true and not just something Regina is saying to make her feel better.

 

“No,” Regina says, firm. “I don't _think_ so, I _know_.”

 

The breath Emma’s been holding escapes from her lungs, it makes a noise that sounds a little like, “ _Oh_.”

 

Regina smiles fondly at her, raising their joined hands to kiss the back of Emma's. “It's a pretty good fairytale, don't you think?”

 

The corners of Emma's mouth twitch upwards until she's smiling too. “Yeah, it is,” she agrees, leaning over and settling her head on Regina's shoulder.

 

They sit like that for awhile, in the kind of silence that is not uncomfortable but comforting.

 

When Emma can feel herself starting to drift off, she lifts her head from Regina's shoulder, not eager to _actually_ sleep like this - the stiffness she will wake up with if she does not ideal when she is meant to compete tomorrow, even if it doesn't matter if she wins.

 

Regina quirks an eyebrow at her, “Ready to go inside?”

 

Emma nods and Regina stands, helping her up.

 

Regina is still holding Emma's hand when she leads the way into their home, up the stairs to their room.

 

xxxxxx

 

Henry is bouncing with excitement at breakfast the next morning.

 

“You're practically vibrating, kid,” Emma laughs, as she gratefully accepts the coffee Regina is holding out for her.

 

Henry just grins, his eyes sliding from Emma to Regina. “Can we do it now, Mom?”

 

Regina nods, “I don't see why not, Henry.”

 

“What's going on?” Emma asks when Henry scampers out of the kitchen.

 

Regina just smiles, mysterious and teasing. “You'll see. It's a surprise.”

 

Emma doesn't get to pout long though because Henry is back, a bundle of red cotton in his arms, which he drops on the table and then untangles one item from the rest. It's a red tank top, with thick straps, the kind she likes to wear when she's running obstacles. This one has an image on the front - a swan with a crown on its head. _The Fairytale Ninja_ is written below it in script that reminds her of Henry's fairytale book. She just stares and stares and stares. She can't look away.

 

“The swan is for you, obviously, and the crown is for mom...you know, because she's the queen. So it’s Swan-Mills! Or, well...Swan-Queen, I guess. But still...it's us!” Henry laughs and the he just keeps on rambling, “Aunt Zelena helped. She wanted the shirts to be green. But I said red...like your jacket, you know? The other ones are t-shirts not tank tops but they look the same, otherwise. We made a whole bunch, for everyone who's coming to watch today-” He stops all of a sudden, frowning. “Ma, are you crying?”

 

Emma reaches up and brushes at her cheek with the pad of her thumb, she's kind of surprised when it comes away wet. “I guess so.” She laughs. “Don't worry,” she says and this is directed at Regina _and_ Henry because they are _both_ eyeing her worriedly. “These are happy tears.”

 

“You're sure?” Regina prompts.

 

Emma grins through the tears, her smile bright and her heart light. “I'm sure.”

 

And then she's being wrapped in a hug from both sides - Henry's arms around her waist, Regina's head on her shoulder.

 

Regina is right, _this_ is her fairytale. Emma's  never been more sure of anything.

 

xxxxxx

 

She doesn't make it past the Boston City Final. She misses the National Final just barely - she makes it what ends up being far enough, over the warped wall and up the salmon ladder, but it’s just not fast enough. Ten seconds. Ten seconds more is all it would have taken.

 

Dripping wet, towel around her shoulders, she stands with the interviewer after her run, Henry and Regina by her side. Regina has her arm around Emma's waist - apparently not caring one bit about the transfer of water from Emma’s wet clothes to her dry ones.

 

“Are you disappointed that your fairytale is over?” The interviewer asks Emma.

 

The phrasing of it makes it easy to answer, Emma doesn't even have to think about it. “No.”

 

“No?” The interviews sounds confused, surprised by an answer that is the opposite of what she is expecting.

 

Emma feels the fingers at her waist squeeze gently and she smiles. “My fairytale isn’t over.”

 

“Are you trying to say you'll be back next year?” the interviewer speculates, trying to make the most of what is clearly a baffling interview for her.

 

That isn’t what Emma means at all but she doesn’t correct her. She just shrugs mysteriously, like she has no clue, like it doesn't matter at all. And she knows the interviewer is a little frustrated with her but she doesn't know what else to say. She's already said the only thing that matters.

 

When the interviewer leaves them, Regina other arm is around her instantaneously, pulling her into a hug, kissing her cheek, and then her lips. “I love you,” Regina says.

 

“I love you,” Emma echoes, kissing Regina once more. And then she pulls away so that she can reach over and ruffle Henry's hair. “You too, kid. I love you too.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Henry squirms away from her but still he makes sure to add, “Love you too,” as if he is worried that Emma might not know that.

 

Regina takes Emma’s hand. “We should probably go see your fans.”

 

Emma laughs, high and bright, as her eyes find the section where basically all of Storybrooke is sitting in shirts boasting _her_ fairytale. Maybe they’re disappointed she hasn't won, maybe they're not, she doesn’t know. What she does know is that when they see she is looking up at them, they cheer, and Regina squeezes her hand, and Emma's heart feels full.

 

xxxxxx

 

Emma _does_ end up competing again the following year and that time she _does_ make it to the National Finals.

 

And when she cannot sleep the night before her Stage 1 run, she marries Regina in a Las Vegas wedding chapel at two am, the only guest their half asleep son, because _that_ is her fairytale, not whatever is going to happen tomorrow.


End file.
